That attitude kept the longtime high school athletic director in good spirits after his position at Baldwin High School in suburban Pittsburgh was eliminated last month. The 54 year old hopeful that a new opportunity would arise quickly.

He was right.

Sortino was officially hired as the director of athletics and activities at Dallastown High School last Thursday. He starts the job August 6 and has a listed salary of $98,000.

"Not to sound overly confident, but I knew something would come up and it just depended on what would be the right fit," Sortino said. "I didn't want to just take a job. I wanted to go somewhere I could build something and make a difference."

Sortino will take over for Tory Harvey, who announced his planned retirement after 34 years in education this March. Harvey plans to stay at Dallastown through November in a supporting and advisory role.

While Sortino met Harvey for the first time last Thursday, he said he's known about him for a long time through their roles with their respective districts.

"The Dallastown community loves Tory," Sortino said. "I'll bring fresh new ideas, but he's going to be a great resource for me as I learn more about District 3 after coming from District 7."

Under the new title of director of athletics and activities, Sortino said he will also be involved in scheduling and coordinating transportation of all extracurricular activities instead of just athletics.

Having come from another Class 6A school, Sortino said he's excited to be at a place with high athletic expectations. Dallastown posted winning records in every sport except boys' soccer and girls' lacrosse last season.

"The only sport Dallastown has that Baldwin doesn't is field hockey," Sortino said. "They have a great reputation and I'm looking forward to meeting all of the coaches and teachers."

And while he's moving close to four hours from his longtime home, Sortino said he and his wife are excited about the change. The couple's children are grown up, and they do have some family that live in Lancaster.

"Change is good," he said. "I don't look at it as moving far away, because the friendships I have in Pittsburgh will remain for life. We love the (York) area or else we wouldn't have come. It's still close enough that we can see family and friends on weekends."